When you have children, you realize how easy it is to not see them fully, and perhaps miss all those early years. If you are not careful, you can be too absorbed in work, and they will be only too happy to tell you about it later. Being a parent is one of the most mindfulness practices of all. Mindfulness is about loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that.

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

announcements

10/20/16 - Additional Saturday Flu Shot Hours Nov. 12th and Nov. 19th

We heard your feedback! As a result of significant demand and our desire to help protect patients and their families against the Flu this year, we have expanded our Flu Shot hours to accommodate busy schedules. We recently opened up two Saturdays in October for Flu shots and the response was overwhelming. As a result, we have now opened our schedule even further as outlined below:

Saturday Nov.12th 9:00am-12:00pm - Flu Shot Appointment Only

Saturday Nov.19th 9:00am-12:00pm - Flu Shot Appointment Only

If the prior Saturday hours were any indication, these spots are going to fill up extremely fast. If you have not received your vaccine yet, please call the office at (516) 216-5910 ASAP to schedule your appointment for the entire family.

Children don't have an off switch. Often, when they're tired, they just reverberate faster, like an over-wound toy, until they crash.

Children need adequate sleep to rise to the developmental challenges that fill their lives, from controlling their temper on the playground to staying on top of their own bodily functions. Even the stress of saying goodbye to Mom and Dad when the babysitter comes can be handled more resourcefully by a rested child than a tired one. Your child doesn't know it, but he needs his sleep.

The good news is that falling asleep is a matter of habit, and all kids can learn it.

Come and learn:

Great Bedtime Routine

What to do for Night Wakings

How to set the Room for a Cozy Night's Sleep

Walk away with your very own, Bedtime Routine!

Remember to bring a pad and pen, as you will be taking notes.

A WEEK prior to attending you will be sent an email with a link, where you will have access for 60 days to a FREE trial of our Members Only page. This is a special area on our site where you'll have access to tons of resource materiel that will help you to address many of the problems that come up, involving sleep and parenting issues. This is a value of $25 a month. Included on our Members Only page your will find links that will help to shape your child’s sleep.

Such as:

Example of a daily schedule (broken into groups by age)

Temperament Worksheet (learn how to respond to your childs type of temperament)

Self-Regulation (why this is so important for them throughout their life)

Attachment (what a secure attachment looks like)

And Many Many More!

Investment: General: $50/person & 90/couple

Walk-Ins: $70/person

Date: Saturday, October, 22nd

Times and Age Groups:

12:15PM- 1:15PM: Infants (0-6mos)

1:30PM - 2:30PM: Babies (6-12mos)

2:45PM- 3:45PM: Toddlers (12-36 mos)

There is lot and street parking.

All tickets are non-refundable, but can be transferred to a future, "Sleep" workshop within six months, if one should be scheduled.

9/21/16 High Functioning Families will be offering their workshops in the Wellness Center this fall!

Effective Parenting through Meltdowns and Tantrums: Meltdowns and tantrums can be challenging for both parents and children. This workshop, featured in NEWSDAY, will give you strategies to help you and your child work through behavioral challenges calmly and effectively.Come and learn:

The difference between a meltdown and a tantrum and the specific strategies to support each one

Understanding the importance of knowing your child's triggers as well as your own

Strategies to let children know what we want or expectThe importance of knowing what we are focusing on and how that can impact your families life**Date and Time: October 18th 2 times available 10:30am and 7:00pm**

Parent Anger Management, Become the Calmer Parent You Want to Be:Tired of always yelling and having non-stop power struggles with your kids? Do you feel frustrated and overwhelmed with the day to day behaviors in your household? This workshop helps to strengthen the bonds between you and your children and gives you the insight to supporting challenges effectively, and calmly. Come and learn:

The importance of connecting with your emotions

How to recognize, respond to, and validate what you and your children are feeling

Learn to set limits and find solutions with your child

Walk out with a 5-step method that builds emotional intelligence and creates positive, long lasting effects for children.This workshop will have many hands on activities and lessons. Come prepared with a notebook and ready**Date and Time November 9th 2 times available 10:30am and 7:00pm**

Flu Season is Here - Schedule Your Flu Vaccination

Flu season is here and our office is eager to help protect you and your family from the flu. Getting a flu vaccination is the single best way to protect against getting the flu—a serious illness that can lead to hospitalization or even death. The flu vaccine is recommended FOR ALL CHILDREN over the age of 6 months. Entire families can be vaccinated (including breastfeeding and pregnant mothers, etc). People 65 years of age and older should get the vaccine from their own physician; that age group requires a higher dose vaccine that we do not stock.

All of the Flu vaccines that we will be administering this year are quadrivalent (prevent against 4 strains of the flu) and are preservative free. As per the CDC, Live attenuated influenza vaccine (the nasal spray Flumist vaccine) is NOT recommended for use during the 2016-2017 season because of concerns about its effectiveness. Therefore, we are ONLY offering Flu SHOTS this year, no mists.

Whenever possible we will bill the insurance. If we do not participate with the insurance, then the fee will be $35. If the parent has a form of Medicaid or an HMO that requires a PCP to be listed, then the parent will have to go to their own physician for the vaccine.

Beginning Monday, 9/12/16, we will be offering Flu vaccines during already scheduled appointments; you can also call to schedule appointments just for the Flu vaccine for you and your family. PLEASE ONLY CALL DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS (Mon-Thurs 9am-7pm, Fri. 9am-4pm and Sat 9am-12pm) to schedule your appointment. We are scheduling appointments for flu shots as per the schedule below:

In addition to our normal hours of Flu Vaccine appointments, we will be holding a Happy and Healthy Wellness and Flu Vaccine event on Saturday 10/8/16. See details below:

Day of Wellness and Flu Vaccines - 9am-4pm

9am-12pm - Flu vaccine by APPOINTMENT ONLY

1pm-4pm - Flu vaccine WALK IN

In addition to the Flu vaccine, this will be a day of wellness. We will be offering a pediatric CPR course in the morning (please call the office for more information and to register) and the CPR instructor will be available throughout the day for questions. We will also have information booths available regarding our other wellness center offerings along with activities for children.

8/22/2016 - Dr. Rubin Discusses Safe Sleeping and Back to School Sleep Schedules on CBS News:

In case you missed it, last week Dr. Rubin was featured twice on CBS News. The first story was discussing a report on reducing SIDS with a safe sleeping environment. The second was on preparing and establishing back to school sleep schedules and habits. Local editions of both broadcasts are below.

8/15/2016 - A Letter from Dr. Rubin on Our First Mindfulness Workshop:

We live in an anxious world. Anxiety is really the epidemic that we treat. And we see it in all forms. From new parents too anxious to enjoy their newborns, to 8 year olds having panic attacks, to us as physicians unable to sleep at night because we are worried about our patients. I suffer from anxiety, and I know my parents role modeled those behaviors. Every day I struggle-not only to be happy, but also to make sure I break the cycle! I am determined to give my daughters a better life. So they don't have to struggle. So that they have better coping strategies. I see the world getting harder, not easier. I want them to be resilient. I want them to be happy.

Myself, and my business manager Brian, attended an introductory course on mindfulness offered by Cory Muscara a few months ago. Mindfulness is an idea I have been thinking about and trying to practice for several years, but it is a practice. We loved Cory's perspective, communication style, and overall presentation. If felt like a gift. We knew right away we needed to incorporate him into our wellness center. Both Brian and I recognize how that one session has changed our overall outlook and has helped us directly in certain parenting moments.

I hope you will consider embarking on this new chapter of Happy and Healthy wellness center with us. Myself and my husband, most of our staff, personal family and friends will be attending. We don't have kids because we have to. We have them because we want to. And as a parent I want to enjoy every moment with my daughters. To know what well being feels like, and to role model that for them. We all deserve to be happy. And this is part of what Happy and Healthy Wellness center wants to help facilitate and foster.